My aunt and I spent a fun afternoon at a friend of a friend's house getting to see their brand new baby alpaca (2 or 3 days old) while I was in Steamboat during my winter vacation.

mom & baby

...the baby

...the mom

We also spent a little time visiting some of the young alpacas...

This little guy (or gal) was my favorite! He was so curious, coming right up to me trying to check out my camera!

Aren't they precious?

I just realized today's date! This post has nothing to do with anything Irish... but still, I would like to wish everyone a Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

So what have I been doing this past year? Reading! I have been on a journey.

Here is the list:

~ Aleph – Paul Coelho

~ The Shack – William P Young

~ The Alchemist – Paul Coelho

~ The Zahir – Paul Coelho

~ Eleven Minutes – Paul Coelho

~ Quiet Your Mind – John Selby

~ The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

~ A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle

~ You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment – Thich Nhat

~ The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living – Dalai Lama

~ The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation – Thich Nhat Hanh

~ The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself – Michael Singer

~ Turning the Mind Into an Ally – Sakyong Mipham (the one book I started and then stopped BUT still plan on finishing)

~ A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course In Miracles” – Marianne Williamson

~ The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money, and Miracles – Marianne Williamson

and I am currently reading:

~ A Course In Miracles – Foundation for Inner Peace

Santa and his reindeer...

...and me skiing up on the mountain!

vog • air pollution caused by volcanic emissions

From Wikipedia: Vog is a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases and particles emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight. The word is a portmanteau of the words "volcanic" and "smog".

The U.S. Geological Survey defines vog as: Noxious sulfur dioxide gas and other pollutants emitted from Kilauea Volcano on the Island of Hawai`i react with oxygen and atmospheric moisture to produce volcanic smog (vog) and acid rain.

Common symptoms related to vog:
• Headaches
• Breathing difficulties
• Increased susceptibility to respiratory ailments
• Watery eyes
• Sore throat
• General lack of energy

We are told to stay inside, drink lots of water, and avoid strenuous outdoor exercise.

October for most means cooler temperatures. For some, downright chilly temperatures. For us in Hawaii, it means hot, muggy days. October is almost always one of the hottest months of our year partly because the trade winds for some reason usually die during October. Sometimes we also have more voggy days when the trade winds die and southerly winds take over, as we have been experiencing for the past few days.

Today has been one of the worst days of vog that we have experienced in the past few years. This morning the vog was so thick that it was as if the mountains had disappeared. They were barely visable.

My eyes feel like there are tiny pieces of glass in them. My throat hurts. It is hard to breathe. They say the vog should end soon. Fingers are crossed!

Still, there is a blessing we are given whenever we experience a voggy day. Beautiful sunrises & sunsets.

I happened to be on the road this evening when I noticed the bright orange sun starting to set in the sky. By the time I was able to get to a beach, the sun had disappeared, but I was still able to capture the beauty in the sky.

At one point, the blurry icon started to appear on my little compact camera because it was getting darker outside. I set my camera down on top of one of a group of four round stone garbage cans to steady it so my photos would not come out as blurry. After taking a couple of photos, I heard a noise that made me jump and freaked me out a little bit. There was some sort of creature inside one of the trash cans making a noise. Not sure if it was a rat or some other critter. I did not stay to find out.

For more on the vog, you can check out two of my previous posts here and here.

And by the way, the people who are in charge of Words With Friends should update their database. Vog IS an official word in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

*I know I have not been around much lately. Life is good for me. I hope it is for you also. I am just trying to be more in the moment and spend less time on the internet. I do continue to follow everyone's blogs. I just have not been commenting much.

I wish we could have a do-over of this year's Red Sox season, but that is not what this post is about.

If you want to see something I don't think has ever happened in a baseball game before, check out what happened in the first inning of today's Nationals/Cardinals game. You really have to watch the entire video to see the craziness of what happened. I love how the St. Louis fans boo at the end! Sorry it's so small but that was the only size I could find to embed. Click on the arrow on the top left corner to play the video. Not sure how long this video will work as MLB tends to take these videos down but for now, enjoy!

Where have I been? Playing fantasy baseball! Today was the last day of round two of the playoffs. The final round starts tomorrow. The winner of this round will be crowned champion and BOTH of my fantasy teams have made it into the final round!

This article made me laugh. If you want to know what happens to a fantasy baseball team manager this time of year, check it out (and I have Mike Trout on one of my teams). The website is a little confusing. The article starts and then you need to click the arrows or begin slideshow to read the rest.

Wish me luck!

While in Steamboat this summer, I was fortunate to be able to take a bunch of photos of some beautiful horses. Here are four of my favorite close-ups. What magnificent creatures they are!

Been a while, but I am back. I am now just about a year behind with with my Italy trip report, but I am still determined to finish it up. It just may take a few years!!

I last left off talking about my last full day in Venice...

Saturday, June 11th (cont.):
Saturday turned out to be one of those days when the weather changed drastically. It started out as a nice day, then a huge storm blew in while I was at the top of the Campanile (bell tower). I went back to my B&B to change and left my nice DSLR camera there since it looked like rain would continue throughout the day. I went to a couple of exhibits and after leaving the Glasstress exhibit the sun was back out again. At this point, I could not tell if the sun was out to stay. I did not want to waste time going back to my B&B to change again so instead, I caught the next vaporetto to go explore more of Venice.

I headed towards the Arsanale to check out the what I thought was one of the Bianale exhibits - an opportunity to see the shipyards and some of the old ships. When I got there, I found out that this was not possible (or I was misinformed and never found the shipyard) but since it was the first time I have been to the Arsanale area of Venice, I found it very interesting and it quite beautiful. I only wish I had my DSLR camera with me. Here are a some photos I took with my little pocket camera.

baseball baseball baseball baseball

JOY JOY JOY

In case you haven't heard... the baseball season officially started today!

GO RED SOX!!!

Saturday, June 11th (cont.):
Once the rain calmed down a bit, I ventured back out to check out two nearby exhibits across the Accademia Bridge. The first exhibit, called L'Acqua e La Luce, was located in the yellow building to the left in this cool little campo which I believe is part of of the opening to Campo Santo Stefano.

The exhibit was a fascinating collection of photographs from a century ago along with a few short videos displayed. There were only a couple of other people in this exhibit. I took my time wandering through the two rooms, trying to imagine just what it was like to live in Venice so long ago.

The second exhibit involved purchasing a ticket to the Glasstress exhibit.

It was not really the glass that I was interested in, athough I was curious to see the inside of this beautiful palazzo and many of the modern art glass pieces ended up being fun to see. Instead, it was that little narrow house that was located outside the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti that peaked my interest. After purchasing my ticket, I inquired about visiting the house. The girl at the desk told me that it was closed due to the rain. What? That was not what I wanted to hear. Perhaps she did not realize that it had stopped raining. I used my best Italian to try to charm her into opening up this Narrow House, by Erwin Wurm, and it worked.

And now, I present you with the very cool little narrow house!

Saturday, June 11th:
Saturday was my last full day in Venice. I got an early start on the day, skipping breakfast at my B&B, although Wenyu insisted on making me a quick espresso and giving me a brioche to take on the go. My goal was to try to get to Piazza San Marco before the hordes of tourists arrived. This is the best time of day to enjoy this amazing piazza.

I took a bunch of photos and then decided to go to the top of the Campanile (bell tower). I have only been to the top of this bell tower once before, back in 1999 during my first visit to Venice. I was one of the first people in line, got right up to the top, and then spent about 90 minutes enjoying the view and taking photos. I probably would have stayed longer but towards the end of my time up in this cool bell tower, the skies turned black and the cold wind started whipping through the windows. Most of us were not dressed for this change in the weather. Everyone jumped in line to take the elevator back down. I had to wait a little bit for my turn. Meanwhile, I took photos of the bells.

As you will notice, the skies were pretty ominous by the time I made it back to the vaporetto. I made it back to my B&B just in time before the skies opened up. Not sure if you can see the rain in the last photo, the view from my room at my B&B.

I took too many photos to share in a blog post so I decided to make a video instead. If you double click on the video, it should open up into a full screen.

I did quite a bit on my last full day in Venice. More blog posts to come...